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Thank You Mario But Our Princess Is in Another Castle
Thank You Mario But Our Princess Is in Another Castle is the sixth song on the collaboration EP Black Pear Tree. Lyrics I waited here all by myself The room was dark and it smelled like sulfur I heard the screams from way down in the darkness Felt pretty sure my life was over I kept my hat on just for luck Sang simple tunes the whole night through I wondered if I'd wake to find myself in flames As I waited here for you Yeah when you came in I could breathe again I saw some guys dressed up like sorcerers Blue robes that flowed above the ground They came and went and I was frightened for my life I tried not to make a sound Just when my solitude was closing in I heard a howl like screeching tires And I told you the one thing I know how to say Through the bright ringing drone of 8-bit choirs Yeah when you came in I could breathe again Comments by John Darnielle About this Song “I was talking about how - this childhood tendency of mine - I’m the most gullible person alive. I believe everything I’m told. Not just while it’s being told to me; a poet named Bill Direen has a very strong credo that, you know, for the duration of the story that someone is telling you, believe it. But I can’t escape at the end and so that’s sort of a thing about me. And consequently, I’m the kind of person who- and I think more people have this than admit it. You know how you hear a really dumb song - like you know it’s dumb, it’s just not the sort of stuff you maybe normally would listen to - and then you start to cry. And you say, ‘Why am I crying at ‘Nearest Distant Shore’, a country song from the eighties?’ Well, it’s that you let yourself get sucked into it and suddenly everything- the protagonist person was real, so maybe it’s dumb because they’re feeling beleaguered and they’re not really powerful enough to articulate things in a way that’s really clever because they’re in a whole, huge amount of psychic pain. Maybe that’s the reality of the dumb song. So anyway, I play video games and sometimes- and I’m not talking about video games with complex plot lines that everyone cries at, right. Everyone cries at 'Ocarina’. It’s true, when they seal Zelda up in the amber and you can’t- everybody cries at that. But this is not that. There’s not a lot of people who, when you reach the end of the maze and it blinks and Pac-Man has eaten all the dots and eaten a few ghosts while he was at it, so he has earned some right to freedom and rest… and the maze blinks and this music plays and you think, 'Oh, what music are they playing for Pac-Man?’ Maybe, as they usher him into the house that he won because he completed the maze. 'It’s so nice that he’s finished. He worked so hard at it. He died twice on the way through the maze and now he’s done! So now, good for him. And I helped him get there. So, this is great!’ And then a new maze full of dots presents itself. And there’s new ghosts, none of them are actually dead. Every time you eat them, the ghosts come back to life. And if you’re me, you reach a point where this feels like a crushing psychic weight. Like, 'Oh my god, Pac-Man will never be done. He will never be done. He has to eat the dots forever. There is no escape from the maze. There’s an exit on this side of the screen, but it just comes right back out on the other side of the screen. It’s hell. Pac-Man was born in and lives in hell. That’s all you’re doing, is helping him walk around down there and be chased by demons who have names like Inky and Blinky. You have to pool in a harsh universe through which he lives.’ So this song is about a little fellow who goes to free the woman he loves from an evil dragon. And he’s really not… he’s just a plumber. He’s not a hero or nothing. He’s just a little plumber–and he’s exceedingly little. I know it’s uncool to call people little, or something; like, people are all sorts of sizes but this guy’s literally like half an inch tall. And like one day, he just wakes up inside a sewer and the sewer has creatures that fly and he fights and fights and fights. But when he gets past the evil dragon, the person he’s looking for isn’t there. But somebody else he knows is, that he didn’t even know was being held prisoner. His name is Mario. His friend’s name is Toad. I find their story profoundly moving so I wrote this song for them.” — John Darnielle introducing ''Thank You Mario But Our Princess Is In Another Castle, ''Rio Theater on 2012-06-22 Things Referenced in this Song *This song is sung from the point of view of the Super Mario video game character Toad, who exclaims the title of the song when he is rescued by Mario from imprisonment in a castle. *The "guys dressed up like sorcerers" are most likely Magikoopas. Live Shows this Song Was Played at *2008-11-03 - Republic - New Orleans, LA *2008-11-05 - Cat's Cradle - Carrboro, NC *2008-11-06 - 9:30 Club - Washington, D.C. *2008-11-08 - Music Hall of Williamsburg - Brooklyn, NY *2008-12-14 - The Zoo - Brisbane, Australia *2009-04-04 - Earlham College - Richmond, IN *2009-10-10 - Queen Elizabeth Hall - London, England *2009-10-13 - Point Ephemere - Paris, France *2009-10-15 - Magnet - Berlin, Germany *2009-11-10 - The Showbox - Seattle, WA *2009-11-11 - Wonder Ballroom - Portland, OR *2009-11-15 - Henry Fonda Theater - Los Angeles, CA *2009-11-19 - Granada Theater - Dallas, TX *2012-06-22 - Rio Theater - Vancouver, British Columbia *2012-06-27 - Swedish American Hall - San Francisco, CA *2012-06-30 - McCabe's Guitar Shop - Santa Monica, CA *2012-07-01 - McCabe's Guitar Shop - Santa Monica, CA *2012-09-07 - Hopscotch Festival - Fletcher Opera Theater - Raleigh, NC *2012-09-19 - Soundcheck - WNYC Session - New York, NY *2012-12-03 - Cain's Ballroom - Tulsa, OK *2013-01-15 - An Evening of Awesome - Isaac Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall - New York, NY *2013-05-01 - Legends Club at Appalachian State University - Boone, NC *2013-10-12 - Handelsbeurs - Ghent, Belgium *2013-10-18 - Teatre Conde Duque - Madrid, Spain *2014-04-15 - Pearl Street Ballroom - Northampton, MA *2014-04-19 - Old Town School of Folk Music - Chicago, IL *2014-04-21 - Scope Productions Presents First United Methodist Church - Iowa City, IA *2014-05-02 - Kresge Recital Hall - Knox College - Galesburg, IL *2014-06-14 - Bottom of the Hill - San Francisco, CA *2014-06-20 - Dan's Silverleaf - Denton, TX *2014-06-27 - Boys Rock for Girls Rock - Haw River Ballroom - Saxapahaw, NC *2015-01-24 - Invite Them Up First Set - SF Sketchfest - San Francisco, CA *2015-01-24 - Invite Them Up Second Set - SF Sketchfest - San Francisco, CA *2015-01-25 - Tribute to Wurster and Scharpling - SF Sketchfest - San Francisco, CA *2015-04-21 - Headliners - Louisville, KY *2015-08-31 - Whiplash - UCB Theater - New York, NY *2015-09-08 - Off Broadway - St. Louis, MO *2015-09-10 - Vega - Lincoln, NE *2015-10-03 - Neighborhood Theatre - Charlotte, NC *2015-10-05 - 40 Watt Club - Athens, GA *2015-10-08 - The Beacham Theatre - Orlando, FL *2015-10-09 - Colonial Quarter - St. Augustine, FL *2015-10-10 - The Orpheum - Tampa, FL *2015-11-05 - Big Arts Schein Performance Hall - Sanibel Island Writer's Conference - Sanibel, FL *2015-11-15 - Gorilla - Manchester, England *2015-11-17 - Trinity - Bristol, England *2016-03-01 - The Depot - Humboldt State University - Arcata, CA *2016-11-21 - Second City - Chicago, IL *2017-04-07 - Fowlers Live - Adelaide, Australia *2017-04-09 - The Factory Theatre - Sydney, Australia Videos of this Song *2008-12-14 - The Zoo - Brisbane, Australia *2009-10-15 - Magnet - Berlin, Germany *2012-06-22 - Rio Theater - Vancouver, British Columbia *2013-10-18 - Teatre Conde Duque - Madrid, Spain *2014-04-15 - Pearl Street Ballroom - Northampton, MA *2014-05-02 - Kresge Recital Hall - Knox College - Galesburg, IL *2014-06-20 - Dan's Silverleaf - Denton, TX *2015-04-21 - Headliners - Louisville, KY *2015-09-08 - Off Broadway - St. Louis, MO *2016-11-21 - Second City - Chicago, IL Category:Black Pear Tree EP songs Category:Video